Super Bowl & Snack Fest XLIV

The boys were in sin city for the Super Bowl, so the girls were on their own for the big game last night. The Super Bowl is the perfect opportunity for a culinary showcase. Think about it… two teams, two different cities, two menus going head to head. It really doesn’t get much better for a wannabe foodie.

The classic New Orleans feast would include jambalaya, gumbo, crawfish and a whole lot of creole and cajun seasoning (Bam!). Whip up some beignets for dessert and let’s not forget about the cocktail that made the city famous – the hurricane. (When I visited New Orleans in 2004, I learned that you can have one hurricane, but not two. Let’s just say that the next day was not a good one. I am getting nauseous just thinking about it.)

For the Indianapolis side of the table, we’d have… there would be… umm, well… I guess, cupcakes decorated with indy cars and perhaps some meat. Hopefully not horse meat. Alright, let’s serve some steak and call it a day. I suppose I could always serve chicken cooked under a brick and say it came from the brickyard. But would anyone even get that reference?

Do they even have “a cuisine” in Indianapolis? Would it really be cheating if we served French food in honor of Pierre Garçon? Or couldn’t we just say that Peyton Manning is from New Orleans, so he’s represented with the Saints’ fare?

Seriously. There has to be some type of food that makes that city famous. After all, what did the mayor of Indianapolis use to bet the mayor of New Orleans? Rather than waste more time pondering this, I turned to my trusty friend Google and learned that Indianapolis is famous for breaded pork tenderloin and steak. Okay, so steak I can live with. As long as it’s not horse meat. (You know, because of the Colts, and the horse shoe logo. Shut up.)

So rather than prolonging this charade, I’m just going to tell you what we did. Because in all honesty, we didn’t even attempt to come up with food that was at all representative of the two teams competing for victory. In fact, the idea never came up. I just thought of it right now. Thought it would make good blog fodder. If B and Padraig ever decide to abandon their Las Vegas plans and stay home for the Super Bowl, I promise to prepare a feast that represents the two teams playing in that particular Super Bowl. (Pretty safe to say, I will never have to follow through on this one. Those boys love their Vegas.)

So while the boys were in Vegas, it was Snack Fest XLIV for Beth and Lindsay.

Our menu consisted of the following:

• Nachos with homemade salsa and guacamole (courtesy of Lindsay)
• Potato chips (not even the good kind, those fat free ones that you can only eat at home, just to be safe)
• Clam dip (it is a Ryan family favorite, I’d share the recipe but it’s a family secret. Okay, you can find it on the side of the can of Snow’s minced clams)
• Shrimp cocktail (because Lindsay said “maybe we should have some protein”)
• Jax (as promised in my post last week)
• Beer

For dessert I brought strawberry shortcake. Nothing to brag about – fresh strawberries (not the ripest, but fresh nonetheless), whipped cream and biscuits that I bought from the bakery at the grocery store. Fortunately, we filled up on the snacks and never made it to the strawberry shortcake. I say fortunately because when I got home the bag of biscuits was sitting on my kitchen counter. Oops, looks like I forgot something. That’s okay – B is coming home tomorrow, and a return trip to the grocery store for more strawberries means we will have strawberry shortcake for dessert.

Even though the Super Bowl does present an opportunity for a great culinary/cooking showdown each year, I am damn proud of Snack Fest XLIV. Lindsay’s friend Carrie came by for the game, and she raved about the clam dip. If your food gets compliments, you win. Plain and simple.

But don’t fear… I did make several attempts to cook good food in the days leading up to the Super Bowl. On Tuesday, in honor of the Lost premiere, I prepared an island themed dinner – tilapia with homemade mango salsa (delicious!), coconut rice and green bean salad. I don’t really know what was so island themed about the green bean salad, but I needed something green and it looked pretty and tasted great. And I made rice pudding with the leftover coconut rice (which was way better than the coconut rice itself – I’m just not a huge rice fan unless it’s risotto or pork fried). On Saturday, my friends Lori and Amy came over for a girl’s night and I made pizza. Somehow, I managed to overcook it, despite using the exact same directions that I use every single time I make pizza. They were, of course, polite enough to eat it anyway. Lori even went so far as to say she prefers her pizza burnt. (So cute.)

Valentine’s Day is next Sunday, so there will be no cooking for me. B has made reservations for brunch and dinner (how lucky am I?) so maybe there will be some restaurant reviews in my future… See you next week!